Whattawowworldhttps://whattawowworld.com
Awareness. Restless travelling. Enjoying the moment.Sat, 17 Mar 2018 16:24:51 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.9When the Whole Village Died – My Lai Massacrehttps://whattawowworld.com/en//feelings/my-lai-massacre-mass-slaughter-vietnamese-civilians/
https://whattawowworld.com/en//feelings/my-lai-massacre-mass-slaughter-vietnamese-civilians/#respondSat, 17 Mar 2018 09:25:54 +0000https://whattawowworld.com/?p=6404It was a sunny Saturday morning 50 years ago – 16th of March in 1968. My Lai (aka Son My) villagers were preparing for the Saturday market as usual. Today the difference was that just a bit later th…

]]>It was a sunny Saturday morning 50 years ago – 16th of March in 1968. My Lai (aka Son My) villagers were preparing for the Saturday market as usual. Today the difference was that just a bit later the US army soldiers attacked the village and took their lives.

By a rough estimation 504 unarmed civilians died in the My Lai massacre for no reason. US army had presumed that the enemy the Viet Cong battalion was hiding in the village and that the villagers were protecting them. USA planned a massive attack and executed that – but no enemies neither any gun was found in the village. Still – apparently the most fucked-up soldiers in the whole wide world – started killing the civilians of the village: mostly children, women and elderly people. They tortured them, raped them, burned down the houses and killed everyone, the people and the livestock. The innocent victims were anyone from a one-year-old to a grandparent. Only a few of the villagers survived – one of them is Mr. Pham Thanh Cong who has dedicated his life to keep these horrible events unforgettable. He was eleven years old when he witnessed and survived My Lai. Later he started running the My Lai massacre site and museum where people learn everyday about the past cruelty.

Like in Cambodian killing fields the butterflies were gliding almost as symbols of the spirits in My Lai. The birds were singing there as life continues. The same trees, which had experienced the sad day, stood there at the same spot. It was incomprehensible to understand that so many valuable human spirits had been killed right on that ground where I was standing. One thing I have never realised is that how someone grows and becomes bad? How could someone kill? Yeah maybe for a self-defence – but for nothing???

The “Charlie Company” C-company lieutenant William Calley was the person mainly accused for the My Lai massacre. This man had killed many and gave an order to kill. He was the only person who was convicted for the massacre but a few days after he got a life sentence president Nixon let him off. If his sentence was admitted all the US guilt would have been admitted. No. USA had the proxy war against the Soviet Union – aside they did some gang raping and mass slaughter for the civilians and that was OK. With this unbelievable example USA presents one of the biggest violation of human rights and the worst war crimes in history. You only hope it gives a lesson rather than inspires some monsters out there in the war of today. Already seven years has passed since the Syria conflict started and human rights are dismissed everyday. As miss universes do, I would wish that the world peace would finally come true. Is it really naive to hope there wouldn’t be war here?

The My Lai massacre ended just before the whole village was dead. Maybe a dozen of people survived when a !human! young American pilot Hugh Thompson flew there and stood up against his country. His crew helped a few villagers that were alive. In his book The Witness from Pinkville the survivor Mr. Pham Thanh Cong tells about his anxiety. This incredible something that was done to him and his dead family is something he can never understand.

Referencies:

Pham Thanh Cong – The Witness from Pinkville
My Lai museum
Wikipedia

Mr Do Phi’s five-person family was killed, only their tree survivedA demonstration of the My Lai village life before the massacre: a man plowing the fieldA demonstration of the village life before the massacre: a mother and a child in the kitchen of the small hut. Then in one sunny morning the house of Mr Do Ky’s family was burned down and the family was killed.This coconut tree was standing in the crime sceneThe ruins of the burned homes have the incenses to respect the memories of the killed families, everydayThere were victims from age one to grandparentsThe tragedy will always be rememberedThe soldiers pushed the villagers there and shot themThe memorial of the victimsA boy covering his younger brother – and then they were killedPhotos you can’t understandOne of the most desperate pictures I have ever seen: a raped woman buttoning up her shirt – soon after the photo was taken she and her children were shotThe people behind the mass slaughter, they were not held accountable for their actions. We need justice in this world!US soldiers that killed the innocent villagers. The third on the upper row couldn’t take it what he had done and he had committed a suicide – no wonder.My Lai victims – how crazy is that the US army had a photographer who took all these pictures. Why? At least the photo documentation didn’t help them to hide the tragedy. Hopefully these picture awaken the world to see the unnecessary human death of the civilians that is still happening in the war fields of today.For the memory of the 504 victims of My Lai

]]>https://whattawowworld.com/en//feelings/my-lai-massacre-mass-slaughter-vietnamese-civilians/feed/0Seoul – Admirable Human Souls in the Ambitious Cityhttps://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/south-korea/seoul-shopping-capital-cultural-destination-asia/
https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/south-korea/seoul-shopping-capital-cultural-destination-asia/#respondMon, 12 Mar 2018 03:45:21 +0000https://whattawowworld.com/?p=6363The Gangnam Style music video feels kind of quirky and cool – this is also the feeling that you get in Seoul! Seoul – the fourth prosperous metropolis in the world shows off with tidiness, dignity…

]]>The Gangnam Style music video feels kind of quirky and cool – this is also the feeling that you get in Seoul!

Seoul – the fourth prosperous metropolis in the world shows off with tidiness, dignity, pop art type of details and goal-oriented good-looking people walking on the streets of the busy quarters – like Gangnam, which is stylish! These people are not hair out of place people. In fact, their hair looks like it’s in the editorial photo shoot. I envied the strong, shiny, thick hair type of the Koreans while they were standing or walking in front of me. Black fringes and chestnut colours. Ah. Overall, Seoul people look like super models. Are there many coming out from there?

The trendy people on the street seem to afford brand clothing and quality. You won’t see shabby strollers there. People look what they want to represent: successful. Seoul just reflects this goal orientation and ambition. No wonder it has become one of the economic powers of the world so quickly when the nation is like that. They seem like achievers that want to hang out with achievers! I saw a birthday hero man carrying a little Gucci bag just like that on a regular Tuesday – he met his friend in the metro tunnel who congratulated him and gave him another gift. In Seoul, they even seem to congratulate stars in the bus stop ads. (Read other oddities of the South Korea here.) Fandom seems to be on a high level – serious and loud! K-pop is huge with its Seoul factories– but even in the street there are many sort of performers trying to push through. I saw a crew of young boys dancing – nothing specific – and the girls went nuts. Hu!

I liked Seoul because it was interesting to be in the middle of the Korean neon light signs. Didn’t understand a thing and this “Lost in Translation part two” feeling was real. It was great to hit the metro roads – one of the biggest in the world – and just go somewhere randomly. The metro is very clear though, there is English too. I can imagine how nice Seoul is during the summer – there must be some hot magic in the air. That’s when my next visit will be. For sure the spring and autumn are fine too, like in Japan there is the cherry blossom and autumn colours.

Seoul feeds you well – like it feeds your cultural soul and shopping lust. There are also quite some temples in the capital and near by. In the historic town you also see the traditional Korean houses. Soul is a cool capital with quite some interesting details for an eye! One is that so many people are wearing National Geographic stuff hah! You surely follow fashion waves and cool phenomena in this city!

A lot of peopleThey congratulate celebrities on the ads of the bus stopsThis crew made the girls screamPathos

Our Airbnb flat was great, in the heart of Gangnam. I recommend! Ask for details, if you’re heading to Seoul.The view from the flat, main shopping street of GangnamMen in black in GangnamN Seoul TowerTraditional Korean house in Bukchon Hanok VillageCute inhabitant of the old town

]]>https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/south-korea/seoul-shopping-capital-cultural-destination-asia/feed/0Why the Russians Got to Compete in the Olympic Games?https://whattawowworld.com/en//feelings/doping-scandal-russia-russian-athletes-olympic-games/
https://whattawowworld.com/en//feelings/doping-scandal-russia-russian-athletes-olympic-games/#respondMon, 05 Mar 2018 14:01:11 +0000https://whattawowworld.com/?p=6340The Winter Olympics are over but I got stuck reminiscing over the Games. I watched The Icarus on Netflix finally. This is a documentary everyone should see and ask: why the fuck did the Russian athlet…

]]>The Winter Olympics are over but I got stuck reminiscing over the Games. I watched The Icarus on Netflix finally. This is a documentary everyone should see and ask: why the fuck did the Russian athletes get to compete in Pyeongchang?

The documentary won an Oscar last night and will probably get even more recognition. Even though the Oscars are more known to be pat-on-the-back party for Hollywood elite, here’s hoping that thought-provoking documentaries could actually bring some change into this world.

The Icarus exposes the nation wide doping use, which was backed by the Russian government, throughout the last few decades. At the same time, it reveals how twisted our present day world is.

When the news broke about the case these past two years, I hadn’t quite grasped how big machine behind the whole operation there was. The Russian anti-doping program (as it was of course officially called) had big laboratories where to specifically research how long the bad stuff is visible in athletes’ urine. After the poor performance in Vancouver Putin wanted to raise bets for the home-turf Olympics in Sochi. It was decided that the athletes will continue using hormones all through the Games to secure success. Russia brought along the infamous FSB to help tamper with piss bottles and replace dirty samples with clean ones. It sounds absolutely unbelievable. Russia took home record-breaking 13 gold medals and the nation cheered. Just moments after Putin, whose ratings just grew tremendously, made a move on Ukraine.

All this shit is politics of the devil and part of much bigger picture without any sign of a) humanity b) reason c) justice. Our planet and nature are suffering because of the evil leaders. The whole world starts to feel too absurd — or has it always been one big farce? Putin, Trump, Kim Jong-un… how to escape the children’s playground? I feel unspeakable sense of inadequacy. I guess we can call it our common pain. How many else feel it?

When Russia could manipulate doping samples with such an ease, it’s pretty obvious they had their hand in the 2016 election as well. Sheep are easy to control and Putin has tremendous power over everybody. With Olympics in Rio in 2016, WADA (World Anti-Doping Association) recommended that Russian athletes would be banned but IOC (International Olympic Committee) didn’t listen. Just when news broke on the matter, the leader of Russian anti-doping association Nikita Kamaev died under shady circumstances. He happened to have a heart-attack just after speaking on the matter. The main character in the documentary, doctor Grigory Rodchenkov, is currently in witness protection in US.

The sad fact is that this is the world we live in. Those who play it by the rules are not the winners usually. It feels weird that the neighbor to my honest homeland Finland is lying-in-your-face Russia. Officially Russia was competing under the Olympic flag, but that didn’t really work out: all the reporters and all the people were still talking about Russia. In the end the country didn’t get any punishment. Overall, I don’t understand how someone could celebrate a fake medal / win. How??? I would be deeply shamed for my country, I would protest and would not even have taken part in the games. But not all are as honest. Let’s show some example.

]]>https://whattawowworld.com/en//feelings/doping-scandal-russia-russian-athletes-olympic-games/feed/0When in Korea… The Oddities of South Koreahttps://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/south-korea/odd-habits-south-korea-cultural-differencies/
https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/south-korea/odd-habits-south-korea-cultural-differencies/#respondTue, 27 Feb 2018 09:36:00 +0000https://whattawowworld.com/?p=6308The traditional Korean mask on the cover is unrelated to this story – it just looks funny! The trip to interesting South Korea is over! Like I mentioned in an earlier post it was probably the fi…

]]>The traditional Korean mask on the cover is unrelated to this story – it just looks funny!

The trip to interesting South Korea is over! Like I mentioned in an earlier post it was probably the first country where I faced quite a few surprises. Here’s some.

No bed sheets and big towels

You need some trust in Korea – because they don’t apparently use bed sheets! We stayed in four places and only the last one – the airport hotel – had the bed linen. The three others only had the mattress cover and pure blanket and pillow! I really hope they wash all those thick things after each guest!

One other thing they do the hard way is drying yourself after the shower. We didn’t get big towels, they only had those small hand towel sized ones! “No have” – was the answer. We were lucky to have the beach towels with us.

In South Korea they also use futons for sleeping – a light mattress on the floor. Some accommodations had this option. We read online that the “normal beds” as we see them became more common in South Korea only from mid 90s onwards.

The funniest thing in a Korean flat is the “super toilet seat”! The modern apartments and hotels had this toilet where you could choose a wash for your butt! I knew South Korea is a forerunner in many tech stuff BUTT this!

Which butt wash would you choose?

Take your shoes off and start cooking

South Koreans seem very strict in taking their shoes off when they go inside a house (which I love! I used to have a landlord in Malta that came in with his dirty shoes and I hated it!) – and they also do this when they go to a restaurant. In some of the restaurants you need to take your shoes off.

In some of the restaurants you also get to cook your meal by yourself since they start to bring raw meat, which you are meant to grill on the cooker of the table. Yeah, there seems to be a habit of communal cooking in South Korea.

Welcome to a restaurant, start preparing your dinner

A lovely thing is that they bring so many nice little side dishes for your meal. I got hooked to kimchi – which is actually good because I learned kimchi has a lot of good health impacts. There is even a kimchi institute, which is spreading the worldwide kimchi joy! The South Korean basic lager is also very good, so crispy and fresh. Beside the bottle they bring the bottle opener on the table and you open it yourself. This seems to be a very independent nation!

It was lovely to get so many small side dishes

Impeccable people

When you pay with a credit card in South Korea often you don’t have to put any pin or sign. You just hand over the card and got it back with the receipt.

In the trains between Seoul and the Olympics nobody checked our tickets.

This people trust each other. It’s a country of honour and self discipline. We didn’t see a single shady person. South Korea feels a very safe place.

The mix of hot and cold and hassle

Start counting how many long quilted jackets you see when you go to South Korean winter! Those jackets are everywhere. Not sure if it’s a current fashion or just cold everyday. At least these people are not freezing – which is great because for some reason all the hallways, subway stations etc. are freaking cold. They don’t put the money to heat the public spaces but they invest in thick jackets. Metro benches are heated though… there is a luxurious metro in Seoul.

The king itself, a quilted jacket – usually they’re black

Inside the houses the strange thing was that the floor is very hot and it’s heated everywhere else except in the toilet and shower where there were Hello Kitty plastic sandals waiting for you to jump in!

Also the Koreans we met were either or: usually very caring and friendly people who tried to do everything to help you even there often was a big language gap. But we also met a couple of drivers that didn’t give a shit about customer care and just yelled at you face almost red – these were a few exceptions (there are jerks everywhere). Overall I felt the people weren’t really good with organisation skills or in reading the map – there was quite some hassle with the locals. The biggest challenge for us were the Korean border officials who forgot to put the stamps (both arrival and departure) on our passports. There was a bit of a explanation then when we went back to Vietnam and it seemed there that we had never left!

Oh South Korea – you were a sweet country with a lot of hassle.

Kimchi health impactsA nice crispy beer!

It was freezing outside and inside in the metro hallBut it was good to sit on a heated bench and watch the sunset skyline

]]>https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/south-korea/odd-habits-south-korea-cultural-differencies/feed/0Things Are Different in the Olympic Games – in Good and Badhttps://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/south-korea/pyeongchang-olympic-games/
https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/south-korea/pyeongchang-olympic-games/#commentsFri, 16 Feb 2018 17:04:41 +0000https://whattawowworld.com/?p=6237The Pyeongchang Olympic games started adventurously! There were surprises right from the beginning. First we arrived to our accommodation and noticed straight it was a Whattawowshithole – it was one…

]]>The Pyeongchang Olympic games started adventurously! There were surprises right from the beginning. First we arrived to our accommodation and noticed straight it was a Whattawowshithole – it was one of the most horrifying places I’ve ever stayed at. You should have seen those musty and dusty hallway carpets that welcomed us! This was well over a hundred euros per night but nothing matched with the description online and the staff didn’t speak a single word in English even though they had answered to our emails properly. Google Translate! Soon we understood that probably all the reviews we had read had been made up and maybe they had set up this place for the Olympics to make some money. Well at least we had a roof above us. Life is an adventure and we got a good laugh out of this dump crap.

The Olympic games are happening in the middle of nowhere – in the countryside a couple of hours from Seoul. Apparently they have built the settings for the games – otherwise the area seems undeveloped. South Korea has grown and prospered over the last 60 years and is one of the economic powers in the world but it seems the rural areas have left behind after the Korean War. So besides the sports there isn’t that much to wonder during this grey time of year. So we were glad to come to Seoul a bit – Seoul seems to be an interesting city!

The countryside of the South Korea is probably the first place where I have encountered some wonderment and cultural differences. Communication has been disconnected: most of the local people are smiling and willing to help you but it is a hassle. Same goes with the Olympic arrangements. There are thousands of people in the sports area but only two food stalls – it takes hours to wait and some people are left without any treats. There can be freaking cold and a freezing wind but the heated building is way too small for that amount of people. Between the different games you can’t leave the area and there can be over two hours waiting before the next competition starts. Where is the common sense when organising this big events?

Very crowded in the heated room – not everyone can fit in

Still the mood is great! What a feeling it is to be there on the spot and follow top-level sports – especially when you have a cousin of yours competing there! A big pity Rene hurt his wrist in slope style but I had a strong feeling that he will rise again, like he will! Anyway it was so cool to follow the other snowboarding stars. What a sport it is – I love watching snowboarding, it is so exciting and I can’t believe what I’m seeing – all those tricks, how are they even possible?! The tricks look big even on the spot but the surroundings feel small compared to TV. The thing is that you people who follow the Olympic games on TV see so much more with the wide lens and detailed broadcasting. On the spot it feels strange that you are at the Olympic games! We are going from Seoul back to Pyeongchang on Sunday to watch Finnish ice hockey – I’m very excited about that – as well as about the big air, which is on next week!

Everything feels smaller on the spot!

There are also things that I’m not excited about, at all! Olympic games always seem to involve some serious bullshit. Also South Korea revealed its skeletons immediately. There is a dog meat farm some miles away from the Olympic area. It is horrible to read the reports about it – can this be true, where are the animal rights? Same goes with the human rights! There are plenty of demonstrative banderols in the Olympic area, which are literally saying, “The Olympic games is killing us”. The entrepreneurs whose ski resorts have stayed closed for months because of the Olympic games wrote these messages. One of the athletes told us that they the athletes can’t tell about these shady facts unless the reporters ask them. I hope there are enough aware reporters! The games need to operate in a better way – if we are talking about a massive organisation, which tries to pull the world together and drives the world peace. It should stand behind the human rights and animal rights and equality also on the grassroots level – and when it doesn’t everything seems like a big set where nothing else matters – except the money. Well, I’m grateful they managed to negotiate for North Korea to join the games. Otherwise I would have been more scared when I woke up in one morning and read a text “emergency announcement”…

They are teasing people and making dog meat in the Olympic areasI got this text when I woke up on the second morning. It says emergency annoucement. Luckily it was just a tiny earthquake.

Next there will be an article about the Korean quirks! Short introduction: on a day one we got this taxi driver who had like two opposite freaking personas in him. First he was so mad at us while he had to wait us when we picked some tickets – he thought we won’t pay him even the taximeter was on. He was driving back to our home village fiercely without winter tires on zero weather and us without seatbelts. He was driving so fast that we thought we wouldn’t see the games we had the tickets for. Lucky for him and us we got there alive and Matti gave the driver some extra. That same guy turned like a different person, suddenly he was smiling like crazy and he pointed a dinner restaurant for us. A restaurant where we got to cook our own meal at the end of the day! After that there was a bed waiting without any sheets and a shower with a stamp size towel to dry yourself after! Gotta love the Korean experience. More quirks coming!

It is very exciting in the Olympic games!Rene Rinnekangas RepresentsMy favorite boy Rene and my favorite number 17 (my b-day number)!!Karhu beanie touring the worldSnowboarder Roope Tonteri and Rene’s mum Leena and SUOMI FINLAND!Red Gerard got this. Yankees have won quite many medals – our turn!There is quite a farewell when leaving Phoenix Park. They know how to cheer!

]]>https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/south-korea/pyeongchang-olympic-games/feed/1Poster Child for Positivity – the Pro Snowboarder Rene Rinnekangashttps://whattawowworld.com/en/whattawow-en/poster-child-positivity-pro-snowboarder-rene-rinnekangas/
https://whattawowworld.com/en/whattawow-en/poster-child-positivity-pro-snowboarder-rene-rinnekangas/#respondThu, 08 Feb 2018 08:56:25 +0000https://whattawowworld.com/?p=6170”Rene will make it to the Olympic games” If you’ll start snowboarding at the age of four there is a great chance that you’ll make it to the Olympic games at further point in your life. That’…

”Rene will make it to the Olympic games”

If you’ll start snowboarding at the age of four there is a great chance that you’ll make it to the Olympic games at further point in your life. That’s how I thought and said aloud when my 14 years old younger cousin Rene Rinnekangas hit the slopes for the first time and was a local matter of wonder on his first daily paper article where he was posing with his miniature snowboard.

This is the first ever article made of Rene and his hobby – you can recognise the happy face! The Salmetar press photo by Hanna Korhonen and I got this shot from Rene’s mum Leena.

Since then there has been a punch of articles about the young dude who has made his name already. Funnily enough, there is actually the word “slope” in Rene’s family name. You could say the name is an omen here! But despite the track record I think that the reporters simply want to interview my humble, kind and cheerful cousin just because it is just so good to be around him. His honest big smile sticks to you immediately! I think this young man can be a role model for the whole world: great things happen when you keep positive! That is why, I’m so glad and proud that Rene is actually going to the South Korean Winter Olympic Games as soon as it’s possible and that he will represent his genuine happy self there!

An extreme joy of life

Let’s go back in time. Positivity, satisfaction and joy often mean life wisdom and gratitude. When Rene was a newborn baby his dad, my uncle Ape fell on the yard of our family company. The ambulance speed the man around my age (early thirty) to the hospital due to a stroke. Those were serious times but Ape fought. He knew that he was supposed to be there for his two sons; that he should be there to take care of them and take them to the slopes some years later together with mum Leena. Ape needed to be there telling his jokes so that the boys could become just as good or bad with their jokes!

Rene followed his five years older brother Riko and cousin Nanette to the slopes immediately. I remember that the whole family got excited about snowboarding and was riding on a snowboard at some point. What I thought was funny was little Rene who came to my swimming school around the same years he had started snowboarding. He was so afraid of this liquid version of snow that he was screaming in the shower already! But soon just like that he got the idea – he got enthusiastic and learned how to swim after five half an hour sets! I noticed he was special.

When you get really excited about something the power of it becomes enormous! Rene took over snowboarding early and the passion for the sport but also the number of repetitions has played its part. This is what Rene is telling me when I ask his feelings about the fact that he started in the small two slopes Paloisvuori in our hometown Iisalmi and is now heading to the Olympic games: “It feels quite crazy but on the other hand I think it has been just great that I’m coming from here, the small slopes gave a lot of repetitions during the day and that has been only good. You don’t need big jumps in the beginning.” Rene says he didn’t like competing at first when he tried it out when he was less than ten years old but just a bit later he noticed it could be fun when you just don’t take it too seriously.

Rene doing his tricks by the home slope in Paloisvuori

Not a regular lifestyle – the high school kid that goes around the world

A great thing for professional training is also the fact that the Vuokatti sports high school where Rene is studying on a snowboarding program is quite close to the hometown – thus it was a natural choice. There are not too many days though when the student is at school because most of the time Rene is somewhere in the world – either in the competitions, snowboarding team trips or on the Finnish national team camps. Luckily the school is made for this: to support the young guns that try their best to find the time to learn a bit dull subjects too.

Besides school and pro snowboarding there is also the film shooting stuff of Rene’s street snowboarding crew – 292 CREW – as well as there is skateboarding and a fresh band with a recording contract! Yep. You read correct. Rene and his brother Riko and some friends managed to get a recording contract just by a coincidence and with a good luck. Riko had just made the very first single together with his roommate and their friend was mixing it in his traineeship record studio in Helsinki while a studio boss walked by and liked what he heard. That’s how things started rolling and there is a band called Kätfish (= Catfish) now! What is actually funny, Rene plays guitar for real but in the band he plays bass. Maybe because he can’t join every gig – but that’s when they’ll find someone to replace him. If that’s even possible, if you know what I mean.

This dude keeps active and is involved in many things but he makes sure to enjoy everything

Creative and charismatic by his nature!

Whatever Rene is doing that looks very charming and natural. Whether its his presence on the Kätfish music video or happy mood in the interviews. I think this is charisma. Rene seems like a humble star that is shining without realising it. If dad is a storyteller, mum an actress and brother a singer songwriter – what else than a great show can you expect from the youngest family member!

Most importantly you can see Rene’s unique style in snowboarding. These circles all around the world have noticed the newcomer Rinnekangas. Just about a month ago Rene won the well-respected Dew Tour competition pipe run. And the funny part is the video commenting his ride! The commentators are going through Rene’s ride but soon they don’t know what to tell! “I need to look that again,” the other man says and is carried away by the talent!

Also the international Onboard Magazine’s European Riders of the year article and the different referees there are praising Rene’s funny style and that this “Finnish slayer is never shy of getting creative.” True words! You can see Rene’s personal touch everywhere; on the board in the competitions and streets, in the interviews, on a podium and on his Instagram!

The Bachelor – Rene’s nickname in the game!

JR Rinnekangas, Monsieur Rene, The Bachelor! On the channels mentioned above you can notice many nicks Rene has got. Some fan girls might be interested in the Bachelor name. Obviously it tells there are the chances to catch up with this guy – but how the heck Rene got this nick?! “Because I am a Bachelor, girls call me”, Rene says with his funny Finnish accent and starts laughing. “No but, probably it started once when we were at this chilled Vappulounas Mayday snowboarding event and had this conversation that I’m already 13 and still a bachelor. Dad has taught me that I should be running after women immediately but I haven’t really started yet.”

The Bachelor

It’s easy to understand the funny nicknames and fun stuff amongst the snowboarders because this sport and the fellas seem so relaxed and happy. But how can it be? How do the snowboarders support each other so and have such a team spirit? “Even it’s a real sport I guess it’s not that competitive”, Rene says. “Even we are competing against each others we are also spending a lot of time together and riding together. That’s the biggest point to go snowboarding together and to have fun. So the biggest thing is not your own performance but the good times together.”

Don’t follow the white rabbit. Follow these trousers and some magic tricks will happen!

When we were shooting the interview video at Rene’s home slope at Paloisvuori I told Rene he’s a genius – because he is often wearing those beige trousers with brown knee patches and it is so easy to recognise him! “Those are Rene Rinnekangas branded trousers, no washing, always just have them so we can find you on the clips of the top snowboarders of the world”, I told him! Well maybe we start recognising his personal style already or at least will notice the famous happy grin – the “stoked” face if you want to use the snowboarding slang.

Rene looks happy when he is doing snowboarding related stuff – have the right spirit in the Olympic games too!

It might be so that there are no Rene Rinnekangas branded trousers in the official Olympic games but whatever pants miracles will happen! So make sure to follow this dude’s career and absorb the energy from him! I hope that Rene is the poster child for positivity not only for me but also for many others.

Make sure to follow this guy with these – well with any – trousers! You will see some nice riding and a lot of positive vibes!

Watch the interview video too; it’s in Finnish but with English subtitles. I am going to the Olympic games and will be reporting from there – so make sure to follow Whattawowworld on Instagram! Cheers!

A humble but ambitious guy. Check the video!

The portraits of Rene: Anni Hartikainen aka @anni.jpeg (Anni also filmed the video interview) Thank You Anni!
I also want to thank dear Antti who helped me with the subtitles!
PS. This was a great piece of work, so please share, cheers!

Whattawowperson is a recurring set of articles, where I’m giving this honorary title to a wonderful person that I respect and that lives exceptionally in this world. I also share her/his story shortly.

]]>https://whattawowworld.com/en/whattawow-en/poster-child-positivity-pro-snowboarder-rene-rinnekangas/feed/0Work and Holiday in Asia – Digital Nomad Life is Good Here!https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/thailand/work-holiday-asia-digital-nomad-life-chiang-mai/
https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/thailand/work-holiday-asia-digital-nomad-life-chiang-mai/#respondThu, 01 Feb 2018 17:19:05 +0000http://whattawowworld.com/?p=6111Just think about a situation where you are free to go – to fly like a bird – but still you have this chain and ball keeping you there a bit reserved all the time. You may call this modern type of…

]]>Just think about a situation where you are free to go – to fly like a bird – but still you have this chain and ball keeping you there a bit reserved all the time. You may call this modern type of entrepreneurship! Or digital nomad life as they say. People often show the bragging part of everything but work is work and there is a lot of that in life. But I don’t blame digital nomads; work can actually become quite nice when you can enjoy the sunshine while you walk to the co-working space or enjoy great cheap food and delicious variety of drinks. At least in affordable Asia!

Chiang Mai – this place works!

So greetings from Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand! The Asian tour started just like two years ago when I came to CM for the first time. Chiang Mai is a great spot for working at your laptop. Here are a lot of nice cafes and co-working spaces especially in the area of Nimman, which is like a western type of hipster circle – where you still don’t see too many westerns hipsters. It’s easy to concentrate on working here when you have your tummy full and wifi is working. Here are even some great accommodation options – especially if you book early enough. Of course, we didn’t! So me and Antti were wandering from place to another for a week until we found – just by the coincidence – a nice fully refurbished boutique hotel on a perfect spot! It’s called L Nimman. The clean modern room is 1200 bahts / +30 euros and it includes breakfast. Not bad! The best thing is that there is my new favourite cafe Sea Scape + some numbers right next to it. They serve breakfast brunch until 3pm! That’s the proper way! Even I like to wake up early in sunny Asia; there is more energy and everything is possible when there are some sun rays cheering up the day!

Three new lands coming! Vietnam, South Korea (yippii, the Olympic Games) and Indonesia

Next, we will challenge the traditional form of working on the road in Vietnam, South Korea and Indonesia! These are three fascinating new destinations to me. I’m especially excited about the South Korea Olympic Games where we’ll be already in the end of next week. My cousin Rene is snowboarding there! An article about Rene coming up soon! Stay tuned!

Sun rays for You!

We had a little break in the weekend (L Nimman doesn’t have a pool, this is Stay with Nimman)Some serious sunbathing stuffAt the same time the planes were contaminating the air all the time! But look what a coincidence, a plane shaped cloud!

Nimman streets are cosy during the day and charming during the night – and this is the magic hour

]]>https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/thailand/work-holiday-asia-digital-nomad-life-chiang-mai/feed/0How to Create Your Personal Brand and a Personal Blog Site?https://whattawowworld.com/en/business/how-create-your-personal-brand-personal-blog-site/
https://whattawowworld.com/en/business/how-create-your-personal-brand-personal-blog-site/#respondFri, 26 Jan 2018 09:15:21 +0000http://whattawowworld.com/?p=6062The products and services have a brand and so does a person! The most genuine brand tells what you are and represent. Naturally, Whattawowworld looks and sounds like me. Now I’m giving a branding ca…

]]>The products and services have a brand and so does a person! The most genuine brand tells what you are and represent. Naturally, Whattawowworld looks and sounds like me. Now I’m giving a branding case example based on my blog.

Everything starts from the BIG IDEA (the spirit)

The Big Idea defines everything, every move you make. In the long run it will be rewarded. You never see the results of the brand work immediately. But sooner or later you will create a remarkable, noteworthy brand. Big Idea means that you will work on the meaningful aspects. In theory, what are you, what kind of things are you driving and why? In practise, how you do it? Let’s go to into practise under the second big heading. Now, theory:

Vision
What is your vision – where are you aiming to?
Not being too modest, Whattawowworld just wants to save the world haha! The challenge here is the fact that I like to travel around and see this globe – so I take off way too often! In balance to that, I’m trying hard to work for the world and to find out solutions to the problems that we have. My work, my creative cases lay on the ecological and ethical projects – I want to choose that kind of projects since they are my passion and they are meaningful to me.

Thus, my vision is to make good things into fashion – if you could say so! No matter if it’s peace issues, ecological stuff, human or animal rights. All this interests me as a highly sensitive person. Often it’s frustrating too but worth the pain.

Target audience and niche
Remember to define your audience, who are you trying to talk to? And, what is your niche? I’m always saying that Whattawowworld is an empathic blog, which wonders what the world has to give. Respecting the world is always present and the hard work to preserve all the wonderful things that we have here. That’s why there is also the critical side, how to change things and be better.

All this shows in the WWW slogan: World is a miracle. Make sure it stays like that.

The mission
What is the concrete mission of your brand?
The mission of Whattawowworld is to courage people to see the world and widen the perspectives. It reminds us to enjoy the small everyday moments and pay attention to the beautiful details that the world and life has to give. It reminds us to respect all this and be empathic. And this hopefully gives the insight that we should take care of this place. Whattawowworld…

Brand Promise
Whattawowworld helps to enjoy the wonderful world and tries to make us give our best input for it. Once we’re here.

The blog themes showing all this are: Awareness. Restless Travelling. Enjoying the Moment.

How to present the Big Idea? Personal look and tone of voice (the body)

Then you split it out – properly! You put the Big Idea into visuals and voice. So define your style, how do you write and talk and present yourself visually. Also think what kind of content makes it you?

I’m strongly underlining my different features. The biggest thing is the fact that I’m a nature lover – I’m always saying that I’m natures own henna. I’m also a rap girl. I also like to tell about my creative work and projects that I really enjoy to do. I also like to talk about mental stuff since creativity and madness go hand in hand!

Under my blog themes the awareness stuff as well as the mental stuff are under the Feelings section. Creative business is of course under Business. And travels naturally under the Travels category. I also have a branded Whattawowperson and Whattawowmemory articles, which you’ll find under the Whattawow category.

I hope that the whole WWW site reflects my artistic soul. I drew my favourite things on the Persona page. There are things like grandmas and grandpas, a cursing platypus (my alter ego I guess) and a Finnish Sauna to mention a few. I also wrote down at least a hundred Whattawowwords – quotes made by me. There are also rap songs popping up and links to my Spotify lists.

Check my WWW illustration on the Persona page!Whattawowworld inhabitants: Väpsykkä – the cursing platypusWhattawowword quotes by meThe rap songs link to my Spotify listsThere is also a thank you note!

I updated the logo on the new WWW. My super talented friend Teemu Koskenoja got it right, right away! It had to be as it was before: with “the arc of the world” and the playfulness in it. But now it had to be more clear – so that the audience could read the unique name better. What do you like about the new logo? Isn’t it quite WWW? And what do you like about the overall look and the experience? My man Antti Kareinen created the site – I wouldn’t have anything without him. And Ville, Antti’s brother got it all out in the form of code! I’m grateful to have these people around me.

The old logo – nice, but I had to admit it was a bit tricky to readNew cool logo!Different countries presented nicely

Besides custom made content I also put one of my concepts in the blog -and that’s the world famous Personal Travel Assistant! It was good to launch everything at the same time – and I can tell you I would have never got such attention for PTA unless my whole brand was in place. It’s very important to give the professional feeling and inspiration. At this point, I was very happy that I’m trying my best to write in English (beside my mother tongue Finnish) even though it means a double work for me. But now the hard work was kind of rewarded!

Everything that happens happens for a reason – I always say when it comes to brand work. Otherwise you are lost. This means that you know everything, you know what you are doing. You stand out by doing things your way and this is how you manage to create your personal brand. Never be inconsistent, always be clear and consistent, that people learn how your brand is. The most popular brands in the world have no inconsistency: Make your own thing shine and be proud of it. You can be yourself!

]]>https://whattawowworld.com/en/business/how-create-your-personal-brand-personal-blog-site/feed/0Baden Baden – the Spa Pearl of Germanyhttps://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/germany/baden-baden-enjoy-spa-holiday-historical-town-germany/
https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/germany/baden-baden-enjoy-spa-holiday-historical-town-germany/#respondTue, 16 Jan 2018 19:40:05 +0000http://whattawowworld.com/?p=5997If you want to enjoy a spa holiday in a quiet spot I’m sure you would love Baden Baden. But when you head to the actual spa make sure to go during less busy times, like early in the morning. I went…

]]>If you want to enjoy a spa holiday in a quiet spot I’m sure you would love Baden Baden. But when you head to the actual spa make sure to go during less busy times, like early in the morning. I went to Caracalla Spa in the evening and it was packed – so it wasn’t too relaxing experience. There was everyone from a baby to a grandpa, so you can imagine the additives in the pure mineral water… It was weird that there were so many people ‘cause otherwise the city felt like it was sleeping in the winter. Anyway, despite the full spa, Baden Baden is a very lovely city!

I loved the town of 50 000 inhabitants even we were in a snowless grey city during the ugliest time of the year! The trees were naked and streets looked bleak but Baden Baden showed its charm still. It is a clean city with beautiful historical architecture. This place right next to the Black Forest definitely has some unique glamour. It’s interesting that one of the world’s most beautiful casinos is in Baden Baden – that’s what Marlene Dietrich said. At least it’s the oldest in Germany. Marlene as well as the other social elite was dancing there. Back in the days the high-class people from different fields – royals, authors, actors, famous politicians etc. – enjoyed the city. Another legendary person that I like and who liked it in Baden Baden was Tolstoi. He drank his coffee at Café König. I went there a couple of times too and was thinking about past times while I sipped my coffee. Germany is so fascinating with its loooong history. I really just love to enjoy the moment, take it slowly and observe my surroundings when I’m in as enchanting little city as Baden Baden was.

On our third and last day the sun showed up. It crowned the BB experience! We did a walk on the upper town and the morning view was so beautiful. The dusk and the sunshine were competing who would conquer the air – and at twelve the ringing bells took over the city. Antti took amazing pictures!

Baden Baden was a bath for the taste buds too! We were having traditional German dishes, as stereotypic as sauerkraut and bratwurst hah. German beer tasted good in the nice pubs. So did German wine from the close areas. I found myself in a handmade chocolate boutiques where it was difficult to choose between pralines, mousses and bars. When it comes to service, usually it was good and ok, but as generally stated the German culture is not always the most heart warming. I noticed that already when I entered the hotel. Well what can you expect from the people that wear lederhosen – you gotta be a bit tough! Oh yeah – German people with their language and the leather trousers – almost as bad as Finns with their wind suits. We live in a funny world haha.

The funniest thing on this fully relaxed holiday was to put the bath in the tube at the hotel. The same mineral water which pampers the skin and hair was running in our private bath. Laying there and drinking champagne felt like a holiday. Baden Baden was relaxation relaxation! A great holiday destination when you just want to take it super smooth and easy.

]]>https://whattawowworld.com/en//travels/germany/baden-baden-enjoy-spa-holiday-historical-town-germany/feed/0This Is How You Book the Personal Travel Assistant – This Thing Just Got Viral!https://whattawowworld.com/en/travels/book-personal-travel-assistant-travel-companion-assistance/
https://whattawowworld.com/en/travels/book-personal-travel-assistant-travel-companion-assistance/#respondFri, 12 Jan 2018 15:32:48 +0000http://whattawowworld.com/?p=5953I’ve always known that I’m somewhat a creative genius and that the Personal Travel Assistant is a great idea but I didn’t expect it to spread out so fast and just everywhere! There have been new…

]]>I’ve always known that I’m somewhat a creative genius and that the Personal Travel Assistant is a great idea but I didn’t expect it to spread out so fast and just everywhere! There have been news articles about the service in Finnish, English, German, Portuguese, Russian etc. etc. My face is not only on Facebook anymore – I’m looking myself on the Mirror. The surprising thing is that it doesn’t really feel like anything but funny.

I noticed the relation of demand and supply while I was studying Google: There are people searching for the actual travel help but there aren’t commonly known personal travel assistants that specialize to travel with you. How is this possible? Well, now I’m represented all around the globe but the unchallenged fact is I don’t stretch everywhere. So there might be recruitment for some extra assistants some day in future. All the travel addicts prepare your CV.s!

It has been wonderful to notice what a great feedback the personal travel assistant service has got. It’s been proofed now that people do need assistance on the road but they also need help regarding the uncertainty that they might have – they are not sure how to travel. I have got contacts concerning both aspects. Some day I’ll do some posts to help out the shy travellers too.

It’s been positive that I have only got one single message from a softie Finnish pervert with these words “Would be nice to go to somewhere warm with you…” Soft, right? Maybe the fact that there is a post about the #metoo campaign / the sexual harassment just below the PTA launch post has helped out. Great! Now if we could still achieve equality: People, do not worry about me, I’m not weak and I’m not unsafe because I am a woman. I can travel alone and with an assisted person in the same way as a male version of me could.

Since there have been quite many enquiries already I want to highlight a couple of things. This is how you connect with the personal travel assistant:

• Please, use only the actual contact form on the travel assistant page, so I will get your message.
• Be specific with your idea; don’t send indeterminate sentences. Please answer the contact form questions promptly: where do you want to go and when would be the ideal timing, what kind of trip would be your type?
• Please remember that the personal assistant service does cost. Can you afford to pay the trip of our team and can you sign the contract? Unfortunately the money runs the world. We would be living penniless on the flower fields if that was up to me!

All clear? Now, bring it on my clients! And have a great weekend everybody!

This week I got to look at myself on a bit bigger Mirror! Funny, that’s it